Amy MieheWaterloo Career Center What happens when a career center and a community organization join forces to create real opportunities for students? Over the past five years, the Waterloo Career Center and SHIPHT have built a work-based learning partnership that’s changing the game—helping students gain hands-on experience, connect with employers, and step confidently into careers. In this interactive session, we’ll share real stories, dive into the lessons learned, and explore what makes this kind of partnership work. Expect engaging discussions, audience Q&A, and practical exercises to help you bring these ideas to life in your own community. Whether you’re an educator, employer, or community leader, you’ll leave with actionable takeaways and new perspectives to strengthen work-based learning where you are!Objective 1: Explore Lessons from a Successful Partnership- Understand how the five-year collaboration between the Waterloo Career Center and SHIPHT has created impactful work-based learning opportunities and apply best practices to your own initiatives
Objective 2: Identify Key Strategies for Implementation- Learn how to develop and sustain community-industry partnerships that provide students with hands-on experience
Objective 3: Strengthen Employer & Community Collaboration- Discover ways to connect business educators and organizations to build career-ready pathways for students
Dawn Bowlus, Jacobson Institute - The University of Iowa Ready to turn students into the next generation of powerhouse entrepreneurs? This session is your blueprint for teaching entrepreneurship while weaving in work-based learning experiences that actually matter for long-term success. We’ll dive into the best practices that break down the walls of where learning happens, engaging the community to spark economic vitality. Let’s bring the real world into the classroom and the classroom into the real world. This session will build connections between entrepreneurship, work-based learning, place-making, and community engagement. Participants will learn ways that the HS entrepreneurship classroom can be leveraged and utilized as a hub for student-centered, problem-based, and community-connected learning. Participants will learn about the Innovative Leader Credential that HS students can earn through demonstration of leadership skills such as creative thinking, collaboration, decision-making, emotional intelligence, and resilience. Participants will leave with an actionable plan to leverage entrepreneurial learning and leadership development across their schools. *Participants will learn about the connections between entrepreneurship education and leadership skill development *Participants will learn about the Innovative Leader Industry Recognized Credential *Participants will be prepared to develop a customized entrepreneurial learning environment at their schools to connect entrepreneurship, work-based learning, and community connectedness, helping students develop the leadership skills needed to be successful and to contribute to society.
Workshops: Locations will be determined at a later time Prepare your programs to meet Iowa’s State Determined Levels of Performance (SDLPS) for Perkins CTE Concentrators by connecting with experts in an afternoon workshop around one of three areas:
Implementing Industry-Recognized Credentials (IRCs) to equip your students for high-demand careers
Developing work-based learning (WBL) opportunities like internships, apprenticeships, and project-based partnerships to transform the educational experience
Enhancing your Career and Technical Student Organizations (CTSOs) to foster students’ leadership and technical skills
